For The Will Of It, Part I
by pantheradraconis
Summary: Harry has become obsessed with his Slytherin counterpart. What happens when the Gryffindor follows Malfoy around Hogwarts?
1. Chapter 1

For The Will Of It

Chapter 1: Obsession

By pantheradraconis

The sun is slowly starting to rise while Harry sits on the edge of his bed still staring at the Marauders Map. The little dot marked Draco Malfoy hasn't moved from the Slytherin Common Room dorms since one am. Harry has watched Draco every night- and often in the daytime. It started as a quest of sorts to discover what Draco was up to, but Harry soon found himself obsessed with the Slytherin. He watched the boy day and night, searched for him in class, or tried to be near him in the hallways of the castle. The younger boy's fascination had been addressed by his two best friends, Ron and Hermione, during breakfast the day before.

_"I'm just saying you've been paying a lot more attention to Draco than you really need to." Ron tried to sound reasonable, but failed because of his anger towards the blond. "You already know he's spending his time in the Room of Requirement; why do you constantly have to look at the map to see that?"_

_ "I'm trying to figure out what he's doing in there. I've tried to get into the room using my dad's invisibility cloak, but I can't seem to get in while Draco's in there." Harry was getting upset with his friend's attitude towards him and his curiosity with Malfoy. _

_ "What would you do if you could get into the room with Malfoy?" The word 'Malfoy' was said with a bit of a twitch in the brown-haired girl's voice. Hermione had been silent during most of the conversation, every once in a while hitting Ron's arm or giving him a hard look when he got too angry. It seemed to Harry they had practiced their conversation before approaching the wizard boy. _

_ "What? Um, I don't know." Harry was searching the dining hall for an answer when the blond walked in laughing with his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. The brown haired boy pushed his hair back from his eyes and stared at the figured before him. Draco had grown taller than him, but they were around the same body shape: lean and muscular. 'The Quidditch practice this year has done him well', Harry thought. _

_ "Ahem..." Hermione coughed, seeing Harry's obvious distraction. _

_ "I... er... I have to go to the bathroom." With that, Harry walked quickly past the Gryffindor table towards the exit of the dining hall, fully intending to take a cold shower._

_ "Hey Potter!" Draco's voice had dropped an octave, but still gave a small squeak when he said Harry's name. The younger boy smiled at that, but quickly hid it when he turned towards the Slytherin table._

_ "What do you want Ferret?"_

_ Draco growled towards the Gryffindor, but continued with what he had planned to say, "I've written a new verse for 'Weasley Is Our King'. Would you like to hear it?" The Slytherin didn't wait for an answer before the whole of the Slytherin table was directed to start the song. _

"_Weasley's uniform is made of muck_

_When a Quaffle comes at him, he ducks_

_'Cause he and Harry are gay as fuck!"_

_Weasley is our Queen!"_

_ The Slytherin table burst out in laughter as Harry turned bright red with anger, but Ron was way ahead of him. The red headed boy had lunged himself at Draco and was punching any part of the Slytherin's body he could find. Crabbe and Goyle quickly picked up the Gryffindor and threw him into the aisle. The fight was just about to rise into a full-on frenzy when Professor Dumbledore walked into the dining hall and requested to know what had happened. Harry rushed out of the hall, up to the Gryffindor Common Room, and into his dorm. After lying on his bed and catching his breath, he walked to the Prefects' bathroom, stated the password as Ron had passed on to him, and took a long bath._

Harry thought back on the rest of the day's events. Ron told him that both he and Malfoy were given detention, but Malfoy's was much worse. Ron was assigned to clean all the trophies in the castle without using magic, but he had been given that detention so often before that he had become quite adept at it, and could finish in only 4-5 hours. While the ferret had to clean the Quidditch changing rooms before the Ravenclaw practice the next morning. Upon hearing that, the house team's captain bumped the practice up to 8am, so the blond would have to start cleaning at daybreak. It was because of the detention that Harry sat awake staring at the map so early in the morning. At exactly 5 am, Draco's dot moved from his dorm to the prefect bathroom, and quickly up to the main entrance of the castle.

Harry had made his decision during the night. He was going to talk to Draco, to try to find out what the boy was really up to. He had tried to find out by sneaking around, listening to Slytherin conversations, even over-hearing Snape speaking with Dumbledore, but no one else seemed to know what the blond was doing in the Room of Requirement. It was time to take action. Harry pulled on his invisibility cloak and left the castle after Draco.


	2. Chapter 2

For The Will Of It

Chapter 2: Confrontation

By pantheradraconis

The sun was just coming up over the mountains, and the air was still thick with morning dew. Harry slowly found his way down to the Quidditch changing rooms, making sure to keep his cloak covering his feet. When the tall boy turned the corner around the small building, he found himself mere centimeters from the blond. Harry quickly caught his breath, but inhaled a strong scent causing him to step back and sigh. He caught the noise from his mouth just as Draco turned towards him. The blond looked right through the younger boy, wondering what made him turn, but quickly shrugged it off to the wind and continued through the door into the changing room.

Harry pressed his back up against the side of the building trying to figure out what just happened. He had never really been that close to the other boy. The smell that was still caught in his nose was tantalizing. No, wait... no, it wasn't. It was just soap. Really nice smelling soap. That must be it. 'I should buy some of that soap for myself,' Harry thought to himself. 'I just like the scent of it.'

Making sure not to inhale too much, Harry found his way back around the side of the building and was about to walk in, when Draco came out of the door and slammed right into him.

"What the hell?" Draco found himself on the ground, but he wasn't touching it; he seemed to be floating, only on something solid. "What's going on?" He jumped up quickly and kicked the ground where he had landed... Sort of...

"Ow! Stop kicking me!" Harry tried to remove the cloak, but it was caught under him and all he could do was roll around on the ground.

"Potter?!" Draco could see a hand, then a leg. What was going on here? "What are you doing? Is that an invisibility cloak? Where did you get that?" The blond kicked the boy again, wishing to get an answer faster. And... he just enjoyed seeing the younger boy in pain like that.

"Stop kicking me! It was my father's. He gave it to me."

"Hate to break it to you, but your father's dead. Whoever gave that to you must just like to hear you call him 'papa'."

"You're disgusting." Harry finally got up and removed the cloak, leaving it on the ground. He looked Draco in the eye, but, forgetting not to breathe too strongly, due to the lack of air from being kicked on the ground, got another whiff of the 'eau de Draco'. He promptly looked past the blond to refocus his attention; he noticed that the Ravenclaw changing room was sparkling clean and perfectly organized. "Wait a minute! How did you clean that so fast?"

"Magic, obviously. We are wizards, are we not? Well, maybe one of us is, at least." Draco smirked then moved past Harry, into the Slytherin changing room, only to emerge from it within seconds.

"But you aren't supposed to use magic! Didn't Filch take your wand this morning?" Harry walked with the older boy to the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff changing rooms on the other side of the pitch.

"I gave him Crabbe's wand. I'm not going to waste my time cleaning up this filth. Why be a wizard if you're going to do things the Muggle way? It's not the place of a Malfoy."

"You're going to get caught. What happens when you go back to the castle having finished in only a half an hour, what should have taken you 3 hours in the least?" Draco went into the Hufflepuff changing room and emerged with one of the uniforms. He dropped it in the mud on the side of the building and moved to walk back across the pitch.

"I'm not going back to the castle. Do you really believe I would be that dimwitted in dealing with this ridiculous detention? What am I, a Hufflepuff? I'm going to the owlery to send off some letters, then to the lake to finish my potions essay." The blond continued past the pitch and moved on towards the owlery.

Harry followed closely, trying to work out just how much time it took Draco to figure all of this out. It was then he realized Draco skipped the Gryffindor building. "What about my team's changing room?"

"I'm not going to touch that disgusting room. It's got mudblood dripping from it. I wouldn't even breath in the air from that room."

"You're such a pig, Malfoy."

Draco stopped and turned towards the brunette. "What's a pig?"

"It's uh, farm animal."

"Oh." Draco turned to walk again, when Harry grabbed at his arm.

The younger boy held his breath and spit out the question that had been boggling his mind for months now. "What have you been doing in the Room of Requirement?"

The two boys stared at each other in silence. Draco had a look of surprise on him, something Harry had never really seen before. The blond shook his head and when he looked back into Harry's eyes, had his usual smirk back in place. "What are you talking about, Potter?"

"You're always in there! Alone, night and day, for hours at a time. What are you doing in there?"

The blond tried to keep his face as unreadable as ever while he thought through what the younger boy was saying to him. 'How could he know I was in there?' "How do you know I'm in there?"

"It doesn't matter.."

"Yes it does! You're spying on me? That's disgusting, Potter. Why are you watching me? Have some sick interest in me?"

"What? No! No, of course not! What? What are you talking about Malfoy? I just want to know what you're doing in there." Harry tried to step in front of Draco to stop him, but Draco was slicker on his feet than the brunette. Draco turned to his left and ran past Harry. The younger boy tried to keep up with the Slytherin, but the blond was much faster and soon lost him. Harry sighed and walked back to the pitch to retrieve his cloak. 'What the hell just happened?'


	3. Chapter 3

For The Will Of It

Chapter 3: Eristic

By pantheradraconis

"Hey mate, Wake up!"

"Uhhmmuuh"

"Come on, we have to get on to breakfast or we'll be late for Care of Magical Creatures."

"Wha?" Harry rolled over on the couch, just balancing himself on the edge. "Just 5 more minutes, Dudley doesn't need breakfast."

"Who? Oh right...Wake up!" Ron nudged Harry in the side, causing the sleeping boy to fall off the couch with a loud bang.

"Ow!"

"Sorry."

"What'd you do that for? What time is it?" Harry looked around for a clock of any sort, but couldn't find one.

Dean Thomas leaned over the couch, staring at Harry, still slumped on the floor. "Time for you to get off the dang floor. What are you doing down there?"

"Checking for wrackspurts." The boy mumbled.

Harry got up from the floor, grabbed his bag from Ron and headed out towards the dining hall; Ron and Dean looked at each other and laughed, soon following after Harry.

After breakfast and a very slow-moving Care of Magical Creatures, Harry went up to Hagrid.

"Heya, Harry." The over-sized man walked with the young wizard to his hut and made a cup of tea for the two of them. "Yeh need to talk, eh?"

"Uh, yeah. I.. umm... don't know quite how to start."

"Start at the beginnin' is what my pop always said."

"Well... err.... How do you get someone to talk to you?" Harry sipped the watery substance and forced himself to swallow the warm liquid somewhat reminiscent of water and honey.

"What yeh mean? Like a girl? I guess yeh just tell her she's perdy and..."

"No, no, nothing like that." Harry moved awkwardly in his seat, trying to calm his nerves a bit. "I mean a friend, like, how do you get them to talk about what's bothering them?"

"Oh, well, a friend should just open up. If yeh ask the right questions, the right answers come out. I guess it's all about timin', yeh got to talk to 'em when the moments right."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks Hagrid." Harry stood up, pulling his bag over his shoulder, and smiled at the grounds keeper. "I gotta go, see you tomorrow."

"I hope I helped yeh."

"Very much. See you later."

Harry walked out of the hut with new ideas shoving their way to the front of his mind. This morning wasn't a total waste after all. For a minute there Draco was answering his questions, they didn't argue too badly, and no wands were brought out; it must have been a success!

The young boy hurried into the castle wondering how he could get Draco to talk more. He would have to capture the blond alone because he'd never open up with Crabbe and Goyle around. Harry turned another corner when he heard cries echoing from the nearby bathroom. It was Moaning Myrtle's bathroom; she must be whining about something, like how no one likes her. Well, Harry was feeling like he could make anyone happy right now, so he walked into the bathroom calling for Myrtle. It was than that he heard the cry was not a young, female ghost, but an overwhelmed, blond wizard.

"Draco?"

Draco was leaning over one of the sinks, tears streaming down his face. When the older boy looked up at Harry he quickly ran into one of the stalls. Harry looked towards the small door wondering what to do. Then Myrtle said, "Why'd you have to do that, Harry? You don't visit me for ages and then you come in here and scare off my new friend. Is it jealousy? Hmm?"

Harry turned his head from the stall up towards the ghost, just now registering her being there. "What happened to Draco? Is he hurt?"

Myrtle's face turned sour, but answered the young wizard anyways, "In a manner of speaking, yes, he has been hurt. The same way I was hurt for years. It was terrible, this school. Everyone picking on me, calling me 'four-eyes' and..."

"Yeah, okay, but what happened to Draco?"

The blond walked out of the stall with his eyes slightly red, but his regular stance and somewhat-smirk all steady. "Get out of here Potter."

"I heard you crying, what happened?"

"Hah, I wasn't crying. Now get lost before I make you."

"What are you talking about, Draco? You were just leaning over the sink, your cries echoing into the hallway! What makes you think you could really convince me otherwise?"

"You obviously didn't see everything that happened."

Harry scowled at Draco's skill at directly nullifying questions. "Okay, what did happen?"

"You see, I came in here to practice the Res Rei Verto spell for Transfiguration. My head wasn't completely clear due to my father being in jail, in case you have forgotten, so the spell stimulated a chemical reaction in my brain, in turn causing my eyes to water. Stress and imbalance cause reactions like these when performing transformation spells. Any git would know that if they paid attention in class."

Harry's brain was in overdrive trying to work out exactly what the older boy had just said to him.

"I assume you probably don't understand a word I'm saying now, so while you're sitting there drooling over the English language, I'm going back to my common room, where there are people with actual intelligence to converse with."

Draco moved to push past the other wizard, but Harry regained his composure and leaned into the blond. "We need to talk."

"I just told you, I'd much rather speak with Crabbe and Goyle than a half-witted Gryffindor."

"But Crabbe and Goyle don't know what you're up to either."

The Slytherin moved a few steps back to register the other wizard. "Are you still going on about the Room of Requirements? I've been doing my studying in there so that no one would bother me."

"Then why are Crabbe and Goyle keeping look out for you?"

"Crabbe and Goyle are never around when I go in there."

"Yes they are, they've just been using Polyjuice Potion to disguise themselves."

Draco wasn't expecting Harry to have figured out quite as much as he had. The boy couldn't have possibly deciphered it all on his own. Where was he getting his information from? "How can you know all of that?"

"Huh? You mean, you aren't going to deny it?"

"Oh, well, I didn't say it was true, I'm just wondering how you would be able to figure all of that out. I mean, who are you talking to? Who is giving this ridiculous story?" Draco's stature had been brought down a bit; he was now leaning slightly more on his left leg and his smirk had disappeared from his face.

"I have my sources, but none of them are people. No one knows that I've spoken with you about all of this."

"Huh, not even Weasel and the mudblood?"

Harry's face turned red with anger, but he held himself back; the second time that week he had managed not to attack Draco on his friends' behalf. "They know you've been in there, they know it's Crabbe and Goyle outside, but none of us can figure out why. I'm not going to tell them about talking to you either."

"Why not? Is this supposed to be some sort of secret rendezvous?"

"Is that a joke or.."

"Of course it's a joke. Merlin, Potter. Stop trying to hit on me every second we're alone together. If I had known you were such a fag, I would have kicked you out of here much sooner. Now get out of my way."

"You're just an ass, Malfoy."

"Oh, are you finally back to treating me like your superior? Maybe you should add a Mister to the front of that name." Draco walked past Harry and opened the door. "And for our next meeting, don't forget the handcuffs and whipped cream."

Again Harry was left speechless and confused. He needed to figure out what was up with Malfoy, and fast. Leaving the bathroom he headed down to the library to do some research.


	4. Chapter 4

For The Will Of It

Chapter 4: Quondam

By pantheradraconis

Hours had passed and it was starting to get dark in the library. Madam Pince was going around lighting candles with her wand and hushing students that were breathing too loudly. Harry had a few books open on Anger Management, but found no answer to helping, or even finding out what was wrong with, Draco. The boy found himself hungry, but not interested in company, so he made his way down to the kitchens to scrounge up some food. However, just as he got down to the large picture of fruit, he saw Draco climbing out. It seems they had the same plans that night; he saw the blond carrying a plate of chicken with some sort of vegetable and a biscuit. In his other hand was a goblet of (probably) pumpkin juice. Harry had thrown himself behind a wall just before Draco had looked up to see him. He now heard the older boy pause and look around, but, not seeing anyone, he continued his walk.

Harry had one thought now, and that was to follow Draco. Luckily, as he had become so obsessed with figuring out the boy, he had his cloak in his bag at all times. The brunette pulled it out and covered himself, then, leaving his bag behind, closely followed the Slytherin.

Just as Harry had hoped, Draco walked straight to the Room of Requirements. As the blond walked back and forth in front of the blank hallway, Harry kept himself close and in step with the older boy. The door appeared and Harry, with his face just at the back of Draco's neck, followed the other boy into the room at last. The door closed behind them and Harry sighed with relief, almost too loudly. He could tell Draco was nervous about someone being around. The blond spun around slowly, but gave up without trying very hard, walked over and placed his dinner on a table.

The Gryffindor started to look around the room; since it changes for whatever the user needs, it looked very different from when he had been in there for D. A. Meetings. The room was quite small, no bigger than one of the dorms, but the furniture was very different. To the left he saw a small table holding just a few candles and to the right was the table where Draco had sat down with his food. 'Wait. Where'd Draco go?' Harry had been a little too slow in his wanderings of the room, and now Draco was no where to be seen. His plate of food sat on the table untouched and his cloak was draped across the back of the chair. Harry looked quickly across the room again, only now noticing an opened cupboard in the corner. He ran over to it, leaving his cloak on the ground, and pulled the door wide open. He then saw a shimmering green light inside a large cauldron of sorts. It was a Pensieve!

Without even thinking, Harry pressed his face right up to the edge and let the memory take him in.

The teenager floated down to his feet and looked around. He found himself in a large yard with a fountain in the center; there were flowers and garden stones neatly set about creating an oasis, calming and soothing. He felt very at ease standing in the strange yard.

A young, blond boy came running across the grass in front of Harry, laughing and ducking into some small shrubs. The boy tried hard to hide himself, but couldn't resist temptation and sneaked a peak just as another boy, with brunette hair, came chasing after the hidden child. They ran about, chasing each other and laughing when one tried to tickle the other. Harry smiled at the childishness of the two kids and envied their carefree play.

"Draco." A voice called out from the distance. Harry turned to see where and noticed a path hidden by trees. He walked along the loose gravel and found himself staring at a huge mansion. The house was modeled after a castle, but with softer angles and an (obvious) woman's touch. There were flowers along each window and vines climbing up the walls. "Draco, come here."

Harry now saw who was calling out Draco's name, it was Lucius! And the young blond boy ran quickly up to his father's feet, looking down all the while. The brunette followed soon after, but he was staring into the eyes of Mr. Malfoy. "Why did you not come when I called you?"

"I did, I ran over here right away." The miniature Draco looked very frightened of his own father.

"Don't lie to me Draco. You were playing with this foolish boy. Muris, go home."

"Mrs. Malfoy said I could come over and play with Draco. My mother is out, so I can't go home. We weren't doing anything wrong, just playing games."

Lucius glared down at the boy, and strong-willed as he was, Muris stared right back.

Harry's surroundings faded and swirled, settling back in a new environment. He looked around and decided it must be Mr. Malfoy's study; there was a large, wooden desk with a small lamp on the corner and assorted office supplies. The walls were covered with old books; Harry noticed they were mostly with titles about the Dark Arts. To the right of the desk was a large fireplace, causing the room to be very hot. There were also two large, sofa chairs slightly turned towards the roaring fire. It was in those two seats Harry found an 11 year old Draco sitting across from his father.

"But I can't stand Nott, he's such a git." Draco was complaining.

"I don't care what you think of him, he is of Pureblood and his family is well connected. You will become his friend." Lucius looked very tired of the argument, as if they had had it many times before.

"I would much rather hang out with Crabbe and Goyle than that arrogant, obnoxious plonker." Draco was getting very irritated now. His face was red from the heat of the fire, and his neck had drops of sweat going into his shirt. Harry, despite his queer desire to walk towards the upset Draco, stayed his distance.

Draco then whispered under his breath, "I wish I could see Muris."

"What did you say?" Lucius had a look of fear in his eyes, but anger was showing in his face.

"Nothing."

"You said you wanted to see Muris? That boy is inappropriate. You will not see him again. He is worse than Harry Potter, even though you won't stop talking about him either! You will continue your friendship with your Slytherin brothers." Lucius was speaking very quickly, but also with determination. The older Malfoy looked uncomfortable with the mere mention of Muris. "Now go upstairs and stop complaining, it's not the way of a Malfoy."

As Draco got up to leave the room, the vision was once again blurred and Harry soon found himself in the young blonds room, as if he had followed him there. However, the brunette realized that Draco was now at least 15. The room was a basic teenagers room, with Slytherin memorabilia stuck up on the walls, which were a dark green, but there was plenty of lighting about the room. There was a desk with some paper and a few quills neatly piled on top. A mirror hanging on the back of a closet door, had pictures on it of Draco at the Quidditch World Cup, one of himself posing with Crabbe and Goyle, one with Pansy Parkinson at the Yule Ball, and also a small picture of a brunette boy wearing a Durmstrang uniform. Harry didn't recognize the boy from when the school visited during the Triwizard Cup, so Draco must have known him from somewhere else. The young Malfoy had his own king sized bed with the Malfoy crest embroidered into the bedding.

It was there Harry saw Draco sitting with the Durmstrang brunette.

"Shh, you can't be so loud." Draco was trying to hush the brunette.

"Why are you always trying to quiet me down? I don't care if Lucius knows I'm here, I can handle him."

Draco laughed, but tried to sound serious when speaking, "Don't be so arrogant, it's not becoming of you, Muris."

"Such interesting word choice, young Draco."

"What?" The blond looked very confused.

"If I did something very random right now, would you be upset?"

"Why would I be upset? Is there a reason I should be? Have you kidnapped my father and thrown him into Azkaban?" Draco was still laughing, but had a slight worried look on his face.

"See, I told you I could handle your father." Muris laughed and leaned in to tickle Draco. The blond fell onto his side, leaning into the brunette. Harry had never seen Draco look so carefree, so relaxed, so... fun.

Muris leaned over the Slytherin and pushes his hands down. Draco looked up and smiled at the brunette. In the quickest flash, Muris bent down and kissed Draco right on the lips. The young teenager, confused and enraged with Muris' bold actions, threw the older boy off of him, stood up, and moved around the bed. He looked as if he was going to walk right into Harry, so the brunette moved towards the Durmstrang boy.

"You said you wouldn't be upset." For the first time, Harry saw Muris look at his feet while speaking.

"What?! Why wouldn't I be upset at that?! You bloody kissed me, you poof! How could you do that? _Why_ would you do that? What is wrong with you?" Draco started pacing the floor, yelling much louder with each word.

"Nothing is wrong with me Draco!" Muris looked the blond right in the eyes and said, "I am perfectly normal. I kissed you because I'm attracted to you, I might even love you. I kissed you because I've wanted to for a very long time now. I kissed you because I thought you wanted to kiss me back."

"I most certainly didn't! I'm not a fag, I'm a... a... Malfoy!"

"You are not your father."

Draco stopped pacing the floor, in fact, he looked like he had been hit with a stupefy curse; he completely stopped moving. Muris, taking Draco's immobility to his advantage, walked over to the younger boy and kissed him again. Draco didn't move, didn't push away, but didn't succumb either. Muris pulled slowly back, but kept his face very near Draco's and saw that the boy was crying. Tears fell down the blond's cheeks, but he didn't whimper. The brunette smiled and kissed Draco again, deeper this time. It looked like Malfoy was starting to kiss Muris back, when suddenly Draco pulled back and stared off to the left. Muris frowned, and with a poison in his voice said, "It's that Harry Potter, isn't it?"

Draco stepped back again, trying to look into Muris' eyes, but not able to hold his stare.

"You never stop talking about him. You're always going on about how much you loath the boy, but you want to know the truth? You're obsessed with him. I'm not stupid Draco, I know you better than anyone else. You're just as much of a poof as me, but, just like the Malfoy you are, no one is ever going to be good enough for you. Not unless they're Harry bloody Potter."

"You little bastard!" Draco yelled, but it was an older Draco, and he was staring right at Harry.

"What? I... didn't mean to... I'm sorry... I was just looking for you..." Harry stammered, but Draco had ran right at him and grabbed his collar, shoving him into the wall of the bedroom. The room swirled once again, but Harry couldn't figure out if they were leaving the Pensieve or he had hit his head too hard.

Harry landed hard on the stone floor of the Room of Requirements. Draco was standing over him with a look of pure hatred, steaming from his skin.

"How could you! You... you..." But Draco was at an absolute loss of words. Harry used this to his advantage.

"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was getting into. I just wanted to know what you were doing. I was worried about you." 'Did I really just say that?' The Gryffindor thought to himself.

"Did you really just say that? You don't care about me! I'm nothing to you, I never have been. The very first train ride to this hell hole of a school you shot me down like I was of no importance. Like I was... nothing..." Draco looked at his feet, the same way he had when speaking to his father at a young age. "No! Don't you dare try to trick me. You're nothing to me, Potter. Just an annoying Gryffindor. You sent my father to Azkaban!"

Harry, having stood up during Draco's speech, let out a small giggle. Draco backed away for a second and then stared curiously at the younger boy. "Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that... err... well, you were laughing at the idea of Muris sending your father to Azkaban, and then I ended up doing exactly that." Harry tried to smile at Draco, but the brunettes shoulders sank at the look of sadness in the blond haired boys eyes.

"You are nothing to be compared to Muris. He was ten times the man you could ever be, Potter." Although Draco said this softly, the ire roared in his whisper.

Harry gulped, "Was?"

Draco looked down at his feet, "Not that you care, but Muris left after that. I didn't see him again, but I heard he...did horrible things. They teach you stuff like that, at Durmstrang, a real school. But, the bloody ministry got a hold of him a year ago and tossed him into Azkaban too. He didn't last very long there."

"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry." Harry moved forward and put his hand on Draco's shoulder. The blond didn't pull away, he shrugged. "It's his own fault. He wanted to get caught. A wizard like Muris doesn't just fall into the hands of the Ministry; he doesn't mess up."

The two boys stood there in silence, until Draco sat down at the table and started to eat his food. Harry watched as the other boy slowly chewed the food, swallowing only when each bite was turned to mush. When all the plate was empty, they both walked out of the room and went their separate ways.


	5. Chapter 5

For The Will Of It

Chapter 5: Bellicose

By pantheradraconis

"I'm going to kill Malfoy!" Ron looked as if his entire body glowed with a magical force originating from his hair.

"Leave him alone." The wizard boy wonder smirked slightly at the color of his friend, then returned to his Charms essay.

"What the hell is your problem?" The red head was now focusing his angry on Harry. "Malfoy has been an absolute ass these past few weeks and you've just shrugged him off. Did you take a relaxation potion? Or just get hit with a stupidity spell?"

Harry slammed his book closed and stood up. "Back off Ron."

"No! I'm tired of this bullshit! Yesterday Malfoy made Hermione cry for two hours! Two hours!! And poor Creevey got his camera smashed up by Crabbe and Goyle. You can't just sit back and say, 'Oh, Malfoy is going through some hard times 'cause of his dad and stuff.' You're being an arse!"

"You're one to talk! You've been running around behind Draco waiting for him to mess up just so you can complain about it. And you thought I was obsessed with him! You're just looking for someone to be angry at because Hermione has been ignoring you."

Ron ran head first into Harry's chest, knocking him down. The two wrestled on the common room floor until Professor McGonagall stupefied the two boys.

Three hours later Harry found himself on the astronomy tower cleaning telescopes until they shined brighter than the stars. He had finished cleaning them a half an hour ago, but didn't want to go back to the Gryffindor common room and face Ron and (even worse) Hermione. The wizard boy knew Hermione would come down hard on him about fighting Ron, but if you asked either it was completely the other's fault. So he stood there with a cloth in one hand and a bottle of shiner in the other and rubbed away at the same place he'd been cleaning for 15 minutes now.

"You missed a spot." Came a not so reassuring voice from behind Harry.

"Haha, very funny. I don't think even magic could get these telescopes any cleaner!"

"Let's find out." A small gust of wind blew past Harry's ear and around the telescope, but it didn't look any different, any cleaner. "Huh, guess not. You should be a house elf when you graduate! You could shame some of the one's we've owned."

Harry turned around to face the Slytherin. He sighed, "I was thinking of throwing myself off the tower, but the thought of spending time with you is much more painful."

"Harsh words young apprentice, and your sarcasm has greatly improved." Draco bowed towards Harry like he was mimicking an old wizard who thinks his apprentice might turn out okay.

"Well, I did learn from the best." A small smile touched Harry's lips, but left quickly as he turned to stare out at the school fields.

Draco had also smiled at the brunette's comment, but now saw that his companion was deeply depressed due to the day's turn-out.

"Hey, why don't we go down to the Quidditch pitch and play a little one-on-one seeker game?" Harry turned towards the older wizard with a half smile on his face as he proposed the blond to his game. Draco hadn't expected this. He still figured the two were mortal enemies and shouldn't be seen flying around the Quidditch pitch, but then he realized they would just look like they were fighting. So he agreed.

A few minutes later, the two pro flyer's were zooming around the pitch, chasing after the snitch for a while, then, as it was really dark out, just flew all over Hogwarts grounds. The two chased each other around until their legs were sore. They stopped back down at the pitch near the Slytherin changing room. Harry was smiling brightly. He couldn't remember the last time he had that much fun. The whole school year had been nothing but painful. He touched his arm on Draco's shoulder and said, "Thanks. I really needed that."

Draco shrugged nonchalantly, but smiled at Harry's hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, well, it's also a joy to win against you." He smirked and turned into the changing room to put away his broom. Draco sat on the bench and leaned over. His mind was racing and he didn't like it. The blond had always been proud that he could stay in control of his own thoughts. He always knew what the next step was, except with Harry. He was both grateful and loathsome of the other boy. With his head in his hands, Draco thought back on the summer after his first year at Hogwarts.

_Draco was sitting on a bench in the Malfoy estate waiting for his best friend to show up. He hadn't seen Muris since the past summer and couldn't wait to tell him all about his year at Hogwarts. He also wanted to know how Muris liked Durmstrang. Draco was twiddling his thumbs in worry about whether Muris had changed at that school. His father told him that Durmstrang makes a man out of you, that they focused on dark magic and didn't bother with pointless subjects like Muggle Studies. Muris sat down next to Draco and made the blond jump up a little. The brunette placed his hand on Draco's shoulder and laughed. "Settle down Draco. I didn't meant to scare you that much. Was Hogwarts really that terrifying?"_

_ "Shut up Muris." Draco replied smiling. He wanted so badly to hug his friend, but ifor fear of his father, the blond kept himself composed and asked simple questions about Durmstrang. _

_ "Do you like it there? Did you make a lot of friends?"_

_ "Yeah, it's pretty cool. Bloody cold though, that's for sure! The uniforms are much more fancy then Hogwart's though. See?" Muris stood up and spun around in his school vesture._

_ "Oh wow, you weren't kidding when you said you'd come right over after school!"_

_ "Yeah, well, I was in a hurry to see you." The two boys blushed lightly and changed the subject. "How is Hogwarts? Are you the most popular kid in school?"_

_ Draco looked down at his feet. "Well, I am in Slytherin. Oh, that's the house I was sorted into, not that there was any doubt. But stupid Harry Potter is the most popular kid."_

_ "No kidding! You're in school with Harry Potter? What's he like? I bet he's a pompous ass."_

_ "Heh, yeah, he's a real poof." Draco laughed, but Muris tighten his muscles at the homophobic comment. Draco noticed his friend's response and tried to take back what he said. "I mean, he's just annoying. Not...not anything like that..Oh I don't know for sure... but so, I like Potions."_

_ Muris shook his head aloof. "You're a strange one young Draco."_

"Hey you coming out of there? Or did you fall asleep or something?" Draco pulled himself out of his memory to respond to the Gryffindor's question.

"Yeah, I'm here. I mean, I'm coming." The Slytherin walked out of the changing room and looked at Harry. Their eyes glued to each other and, despite the darkness of the sky, Harry's emerald green eyes seemed to reflect in Draco's slate grey orbs. "Have you ever had a crush on a guy?"

It slipped out of Draco's mouth before he could even think about what he was saying. He tried to think of some way to take back his words, but his eyes were still glued on Harry's, which had grown about three times in size.

Harry coughed, "Err...What? Umm, W-why would you ask that? I-uh-I don't know. I don't think so. What?" He search the ground for something to stare at and began swaying slightly.

"So you have." Draco smiled and patted Harry on the shoulder. "I should go. Goodnight Harry." The blond turned to walk back to the castle, but stopped and told the Gryffindor, "I've heard Paris is the most romantic place to bring a lover, but playing cat and mouse is much more fun." And with that, he walked back to the castle.


	6. Chapter 6

For The Will Of It

Chapter 6: Dalliance

By pantheradraconis

"You were being very childish. You know Ron has a horrible temper and you just played off of it and got him more relied up. You have to be more careful about what you say. Think about other people's feelings. Are you even listening to me?"

Harry looked up from the ground and gave a half glance towards Hermione. "Huh? Yeah, it's all my fault. I've got it." He turned back towards the lake, resting his shoulders on the tree behind him and sighed.

"Hmph, you're both ridiculous and a waste of my time. I don't see why I even bother trying to explain to you just how stupid you're both acting." Hermione watched as her friend barely stirred at her words and decided it was time to give up the lecture. There was obviously something bothering the teen next to her. "What's wrong?" She breathed out.

"It's Malfoy."

"I don't know if I want to hear this."

"You probably don't, but I don't have anyone else to talk to about him. Ron can't stand the mention of blond hair anymore!"

The bushy haired girl sighed, again, and resigned that if this was the only way to figure out what was going on with Harry, she would have to listen to the story. "Fine, just tell me."

"I don't really know what I can and can't say. He has so many secrets; a life that none of us would ever even guess he had. Did you know that he had a best friend who went to Durmstrang?"

"No, but I wouldn't be surprised. He did know a lot about the school."

"How did you know that?"

"Well, remember fourth year when Durmstrang and Beauxbaton stayed here for the TriWizard Tournament?"

"Hrm, no, I don't think I remember that year too clearly." Harry said sarcastically.

Hermione frowned, "Well, anyways, I heard Malfoy and Krum speaking a few times about the school and Malfoy asking if things were still the same, like the potions classrooms were supposed to be re-done, stuff like that. They spoke of the place as if Malfoy used to go there. It seemed strange, so I asked Krum about it and he said that Malfoy had visited once before and that his father had spoken about Malfoy going there instead of Hogwarts. Lucius never was very fond of Dumbledore being the headmaster here. Actually, I do think I remember him mentioning another boy's name. Muris I think if was. He said something about the boy having gone to Paris for a week. Malfoy was glad about it too, but I don't remember why. It all seemed like pointless information so I never bothered sharing it. Figured you had enough to worry about."

"Huh. That makes a lot of sense." The tension in the boy wizard withdrew and he got up quickly saying, "I have to go find him and talk to him. I'll see you later. Thanks Hermione."

"But Harry! What about..." But he was already gone and Hermione was left quite confused about the turn of events. Had she helped her friend? Or just made things a lot worse for herself.

"Draco! DRACO!" The blond turned from his slow walk to the Slytherin common room to see an out of breath, Gryffindor running towards him.

"Well this is a bit strange, I don't think I've ever seen you so sweaty and out of breath just because of me." Draco said slyly.

"Sure you do," Harry breathed out. "last night." Then he blushed, realizing just how visual the innuendo was. A couple of first years became nervous at the the banter and decided to quickly duck through the common room door, but Pansy Parkinson walked straight up to the two boys and said, "Really now Draco, are you seriously allowing Harry freakin' Potter to flirt with you like that?"

The blond smirked at his fellow Slytherin and replied merely, "No. Let's go inside."

"Wait, I have to talk to you! It's about Muris." Harry pleaded.

"What does he know about Muris?" Pansy immediately jabbed her hand into Draco's side causing him to bend a little and grind his teeth.

"Nothing, he doesn't know anything." His reply was stated directly towards Harry's widen green eyes.

"I'm not playing games with you Draco. Talk to me now or I'll share everything I know with Pansy instead."

"Now this is getting interesting. Okay, Golden Boy, let's chat." With that, the dark haired girl pulled Harry into a classroom and sat him down at a desk.

Draco sighed, but followed and sat down next to his Gryffindor counterpart and sighed. "Nice going, Potter." Pansy quickly sealed up the room with silencing charms and a lock on the door so no one could bother them. Then, with a flirtatious lift of her skirt, the malicious girl leaned up on the teacher's desk and sighed, "Let's begin class."

Four hours later, when the rest of the castle seemed to be asleep, the three students emerged from the classroom throughly talked out. Pansy had managed to get Harry to confess he had been spying on Draco for months with a magical map, and that Draco had kept the entire story of his Pensieve from everyone, but Dumbledore, and eventually, Harry. The only one that seemed glad at the new revelations was Pansy. Draco was growling towards his friend and Harry was simply exhausted at having been kept up, repeating things time and time again. Neither of the two boys felt much had happened as they had talked that much through in the past few weeks, but the Slytherin girl was filled with excitement at having joined the secret society of Draco and Harry's friendship.

Pansy decided to leave the two boys annoyed and slipped her way into the Slytherin common room stating, "Pureblood."

Harry turned to go back up to his own common room when something Hermoine had said earlier reminded him of a question for Draco. Swiftly turning himself around, the Gryffindor, catching the Slytherin off guard, asked, "Who did Muris bring to Paris with him?"

"You have a talent for random questions at awkward moments, don't you?"

"If I say yes, will you answer the question for me?"

Draco smiled at the younger boys silliness and responded, "I never knew the mans named, but someone who lived near Durmstrang." Harry blushed at the idea of Muris being with an older man. "That's right, Muris managed to catch himself a married man. Their trip to Paris was the last they saw each other. I think that's why Muris went off on such an _illegal_ tangent. It seems he always wanted someone he couldn't have."

Deciding he might as well keep up with the random questions at awkward moments, Harry asks, "Was what Muris said about you being gay, true?"

"Every word."

With that Draco turns away and crawls into the Slytherin common room. Harry, not completely sure why he is, starts smiling as he walks through the castle.


	7. Chapter 7

For The Will Of It

Chapter 7: Repartee

By pantheradraconis

Harry and Draco's friendship only seemed to last the weekend, as classes and other students quickly got in the way of any interaction between the two rivals. The reality of it hit Harry when he tried to say hi to Draco in the hallway outside the dinning hall. The scene was quickly replayed by gossip for the rest of the day as Harry's awkward encounter. The Gryffindor was walking out of the dinning hall when he saw a nest of Slytherin's including Draco. Harry started a "hello" but barely the "he" came out before Nott started holding his nose away whimpering, "What is that smell?"

Crabbe and Goyle hurriedly followed suit as Nott continued, "I think a rat crawled up and died somewhere" The Slytherin leaned forward and with a large whiff of Potter, feigned sickness and collapsed on the floor. Crabbe and Goyle followed suit. Harry felt uncomfortable, trying not to smell his own robes, and look up at Draco for an escape. Draco look uncomfortable himself, but noticing the crowd grow around him, laughed. Soon the whole hallway was bellowing in laughter, as Ron and Hermione walked the distressing brunette to their first class.

"I don't get it. Why would you be nice to me when we're alone, but then act like a dick when everyone else was around?"

"Uh, because he is a dick?" Ron replied easily. "I mean, he's in Slytherin for a reason..."

"You know I was almost in Slytherin?! Yeah, the hat was going to put me in Slytherin, but I asked it not to so I could be friends with you! Your house doesn't make you who you are, Ron." With that Harry stormed into Potions class, almost knocking into Professor Slughorn. Ron stood in the doorway for a second before Hermione pushed her stunned friend into the classroom and they sat down at the same table as Harry. Class started with Slughorn talking about making a version of the Strengthening Solution the class had learned in the previous year. The ingredients were written on the board and the students got to work. Once Hermione retrieved all the ingredients and Ron came back with the necessary equipment, the three got to work using Harry's Half-Blood Prince potions book.

Hermione broke the silence after a few minutes, "I didn't know the sorting hat wanted to put you in Slytherin."

Harry barely acknowledged the statement and simply nodded while pouring in the pomegranate juice.

The brunette decided not to push the conversation any more and the three worked in silence the rest of the class. Ron and Hermione left for dinner afterwards while Harry walked his books up to his room and then wandered out of the castle.

Autumn was coming up fast and Harry wished he had grabbed a coat for his evening walk. The cool air brushing off the lake was relaxing, despite the temperature, so Harry walked quickly around the edge a few times. The golden boy's head was racing with thoughts, _what if he had ended up in Slytherin? _It was an idea that had come up many times before, especially during the time Ron and Harry weren't talking the year before, but he had never really wanted it until that evening.

_If I had been in Slytherin, Draco and I would have been friends. If I had taken his hand that first train ride, then things would be so different. Would I be a dick now? Would I pick on Ron and laugh at Hermione? Would I hate mud...mudbloods? _Harry shook his head in disgust. _Your house doesn't make you who you are_.

With that Harry, for the third time in less than a week, went searching for Draco.

Harry wasn't completely sure where to find Draco in such a large castle, but lucky always seemed to be on his side when it came to the blond. Harry's instinct brought him up to the third floor corridor and down the hall towards the trophy room. The corridor was completely empty so when a large door closed a ways down the hall somewhere around the corner, Harry heard it loud and clear. The brunette walked around the bend and saw a door he hadn't been near since his first year at Hogwarts. It was the forbidden area where Fluffy had been kept during Harry's first year. _Who would be in there now? _What_ would be in there?_

Being as nosy as the Gryffindor seemed to be, the boy didn't think twice about opening the door and following the lit torches to another door, this one slightly ajar. The teenager reached for the door and slipped himself inside to find Draco standing near a small couch. The room was decorated like a small version of a house common room. There was a built in bookshelf covered with all sorts of books and rolled up parchments. There was a table with four chairs around it for studying and a couch sitting in front of a small fireplace.

"How do you know so many rooms in Hogwarts?"

"When you have idiot friends and a lot on your mind, wandering happens." Draco replied without missing a beat. The blond figured Harry would show up. For some reason these past few days had been filled with the unexpected golden boy, so Draco just expected the unexpected.

Harry moved over to Draco and tried to place his hand on his almost friend's shoulder. But Draco moved out of reach and sat on the couch.

"This room isn't finished yet. The idea was to be a study room for any house member. The colors are supposed to be green, red, blue, and yellow. I think it would be atrocious, but Dumbledore seems to believe the colors look nice together. This is only one room though, there are going to be more built as you go down the hall. I don't think there will be any house mingling."

"Well, you're certainly wrong there." Harry laughed, "There's house mingling right now."

The blond let a smirk hit his lips, and then a smile, and before either boy knew what happened, Draco was laughing hysterically, holding his side and having problems breathing. Harry tried to make a witty remark, but instead started to giggle at the always-composed, slumped form of his mortal-enemy, friend. _What a mouthful! _The two continued to laugh at each other laughing, something very hard to break up. Harry eventually slumped onto the couch next to Draco and the closeness calmed to the two teenage boys down.

Harry had landed with his leg up against Draco's and the blond's hand landing on Harry's thigh. The two looked at each other and Harry blushed.

"I think red and green go nice together. I mean, they are Christmas colors after all. Aren't they complimenting colors too? Is that what they're called?"

"No, it's complementary colors. It means they're on the opposite side of the color wheel. Green and red are opposites, that why they look nice together. Like yellow and blue."

"So logically speaking, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs would study together and Slytherins and Gryffindors would study together."

The blond smiled, a real smile. "I don't think that would be _logic_ exactly, but as far as color coordination goes, yes. Although, green goes so much nicer with silver."

"Maybe, but that leaves Gryffindor with gold. I guess I'm okay with that, I mean, contest, competitive, sports....ly speaking, that means Gryffindor is number one and Slytherin is number two. Gold does beat Silver."

"Contest, competitive, sports....ly? You couldn't just say competitively?"

"Well, I..." The brunette blushed. "I couldn't think of the word. I mean, you hand, well it's... still..."

The Slytherin moved quickly, bringing his hand up to his chest and stood. He paused for a minute, then walked briskly over to the table and leaned on one of the chairs.

"Sss...sorry."

Harry giggled. "Did you just apologize? I don't even remember being angry and you just gave your very first apology to me!"

"Yeah well don't get use... You aren't mad?" the blond turned around and looked directly into those sparkling emerald eyes. They were smiling...at him.

"Err...It's just it was, you know, comfortable. I think it fit there. I mean, well if you don't want it there, then I guess it didn't fit, but it felt nice. You felt nice. You are nice. Draco, why do you act so nice when it's just you and me, but when the rest of the school is around you're such a dick?"

Now Harry was a little angry, having remembered the reason he was looking for the blond in the first place.

Draco looked astonished, _did Harry really not get it?_ "Well, because you're you and I'm me. I mean, friends in secret is weird enough. You're the chosen one! The golden boy! I'm....I'm the Slytherin prince, the son of purebloods, of death eaters! We can't be...friends. You're in Gryffindor and I'm in Slytherin. It's imple. We're supposed to detest each other! I thought you knew that?"

Harry's frustration reached all the way up to his ears as his face got red and his sight went blurry. "You're just like Ron!!" Harry stood in a furry and yelled, "Your house doesn't make you who you are! Your family doesn't make you who you are! Only **you** make you who you are!"


	8. Chapter 8

For The Will Of It

Chapter 8: Exculpation

By pantheradraconis

Draco slumped. Draco never slumped. But now he slumped. His shoulders fell inches lower then they usually were held. His head fell too. The blond sat with every body part shorter than Harry thought possible. But he didn't mention it. The blond needed to think so Harry simply sat next to his friend. Tears fell. They had been sitting in Harry's eyes along with all the furry he held inside of him, but that burst of anger, that explosion of feelings caused the tears to fall. He wasn't crying, at least he didn't feel like he was crying. There were no sobs, no awkward inhaling, no cries. Just tears. And there were tears in Draco's eyes too. They didn't fall as freely, but the fact that they fell at all nearly broke Harry's heart. The Slytherin besides him, the prince on the couch next to him, was broken.

Harry had no idea what caused him to do it. There was no explanation for why he moved to the floor in front of Draco. The blond couldn't figure out how or why the motions wound up into place, but the kiss was perfectly imperfect. Their lips touched so softly that neither boy was really sure if it had happened at all or if they had simply dreamed it to be so.

The Slytherin's emotions were so offset that the boy didn't know what to do. _What was he thinking kissing the chosen, gold boy of Gryffindor? The favorite of Dumbledore? The honest, wonderful, perfect boy that he had held onto in silence for over 5 years now? Maybe it is just so unexplainable that it can only be true._ Draco leaned in and kissed the brunette before him again. And then again. The two boys embraced as their lips became one, their thoughts connecting.

_I can't believe I'm doing this. How is it possible that I'm kissing the very boy I've dismissed for 5 years?_ Harry tried to compose himself, to think his way out of his own head, but the thoughts and the feelings made too much sense to fight. _We're too much the same. It was inevitable._

Harry pressed deeper into Draco's mouth, allowing their tongues to wrestle for supremacy. Harry's hands rubbed along the blond's back as Draco reached into Harry's tangled up hair. The passion grew as the boys began to moan, not knowing whose mouth was letting out the soft noises. Out of breath and panting quickly, Draco leaned his forehead against the Gryffindor's and relaxed into the boy's arms.

"Will you got out with me?" The question was simple, but the answer held so much inside of it.

"I don't know if that's such a great idea Harry...I'm not sure if the rest of the school would quite understand..."

"They won't. But they don't understand us anyways. We're the black sheep. We're the outcasts. Sure, we both have our sides of the school, we both rule the good and the evil." Harry laughed at that, but Draco squirmed a little. Luckily, the other boy didn't notice and went on with his speech. "Opposites attract and together we could rule this school. Or we could slip away from reality and simply be together. Either one would be perfect with me, although I'd rather have you all to myself."

"I don't know. I just, I need to think about it."

Harry heart sank a little. Maybe he hadn't thought it through well enough. _But the kiss was just..._ He let the idea slip from his mind and decided to show Draco that they should be together.

"One date. And the school doesn't even have to know about it. We'll stay away from them. Let me try?" Harry tried to bat his eyelashes the way that girls do when they want something really bad. Draco laughed at the way the brunette's lips pouted and finally agreed. _I'm going to regret this later_.

It was Thursday evening. Four days after Harry had asked his dream boy out. He still couldn't believe that Draco had actually said yes, that the two had kissed! Harry shivered as he remembered the kiss with such clarity it was like the two were kissing again. Draco walked up the stairway from the dungeons and smiled at the shivering form on his date for the night.

"Need a new jacket chosen one?" Harry swung around and smiled.

"Come on, or we're going to be late!" Draco was then tugged out the the main doors of the castle by a very excited Gryffindor teenage boy. _How on earth did I end up in such a... nice predicament as a date with Harry?_

The brunette rushed the two boys off towards Hagrid's hut, hurried past the gigantic pumpkin patch and right into the forbidden forest. "What are you doing?" Draco grabbed his arm back and stopped abruptly. "There no way I'm going in there! Don't you remember first year? I haven't been anywhere near the forest since seeing that..that...beast eating a unicorn! I'm not about to get attacked by some crazy warewolf or..or... whatever else is in there!"

Harry just smiled and continued walking, slowly now. Draco didn't know what to do. _He's gone crazy! Where does he think he's going? I can't let him just get himself killed. I mean, I can...but, who am I kidding._ "Harry! Wait up!"

The Slytherin caught up with his date just as they entered a small opening a ways into the forest. The view was astonishing. The small bit of field was covered in unicorns, all grazing quietly and relaxing in the sun. None of them even seemed to noticed the two boys standing at the edge of the grass so the two could look on without fear the whole group would gallop away.

"How on earth? When did you learn of this?" Draco whispered into Harry's ear. The brunette leaned into the soft voice and felt his shoulder touch Draco's. The blond couldn't help but smell the musky skin of his counterpart. It was pleasant and soft smelling. _Can a smell be soft? Mmm, this one can._ Draco leaned in and touched his lips to his date's ear. His mouth slowly grazed Harry's skin, down across his neck, onto his collarbone and, turning their bodies to face one another, Draco continued his trail up Harry's chin and onto this lips. The kiss was bare, simple, complete. It was amazing how well the two boys lips went together.

"It's perfect, isn't it." It was meant to be a question, but Harry couldn't help but simply state how he was feeling.

"What's perfect?"

"This, us, you and me. You don't need to be afraid of everyone else."

"I'm not afraid."

"Liar."

Draco frowned at this. "I'm not a liar. I may be a cheat, sneaky, determined young man, but a liar I am not. Have I ever lied to you?"

Harry thought that over. Whenever him and Draco were arguing over something, Draco was blunt and truthful. When Harry got up the courage to try and talk to Draco about things, he didn't lie. He didn't tell the truth, exactly, but he never told an outright lie. Except... "What about the time in the bathroom when you said you were trying to do that transfiguration spell... Rei Vertie something? You lied about crying the bathroom!"

"No I didn't. And it was the Res Rei Verto spell. I was telling the truth. Myrtle is... obnoxious, but she would stay quiet and stare at me like I'm the dream come true that I am, but the way, in case you forget how irrestible I am, and let's me practice spells. Now, my father being in jail might not have been the only thing messing up my concentration and I might have continued... allowing my eyes to water... for more reasons then just chemical imbalance, but besides all that I was completely honest."

Draco's voice was so calm and exact, Harry couldn't help but believe every word. Even if the blond did like to bend the truth, it was...well truthful that he told the.. uh truth. Harry decided to agree with this and as his stomach grumbled the two boys walked back into the castle. Hand in hand this time, not caring who was looking.

Well that's not completely true. Draco was smiling at the looks he got from old flings and at how red Ron's face became when the two boys walked into the Great Hall for dinner. He couldn't help but laugh when Hermione's mouth dropped open as Draco sat next to his...well his boyfriend, at the Gryffindor table. To Draco's great surprise, he enjoyed every glance, every gawk, every scowl that was pressed upon him while he held Harry's hand under the table.


End file.
